


For Better For Worse

by tsundo



Series: Wing Lives AU [1]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, OOC ? maybe but like WHAT IF DUDE, i didnt want to do this to you but i wanted to see the parallels and this concept..., im so sorry wing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsundo/pseuds/tsundo
Summary: Wing survives. Drift dies.When Wing died, Drift changed for the better. But what if it were the other way around?When Drift dies. Wing changes for the worse.
Relationships: Drift | Deadlock/Wing
Series: Wing Lives AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188614
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	For Better For Worse

_ But where there is death. There will always be death. _

* * *

Deep down, in the dark recesses of Wing’s mind, he knew Drift wasn’t ready. A shadow of a doubt that lingered in the background until it was brought to fruition right in front of his optics. But still he fought with such a ferocity, such intensity. 

The smell and the energy of battle charged him up as he swept through the enemy, having little trouble as he slashed down the slavers who threatened his city. He hears a thud beside him as Braid comes into view. 

“You,” he coaxes. And the two fight viciously, Wing feeling like he’s finally met his match. One false move, one false misstep and it’s all over. Wing knew that for himself. He continues to fight, trading blows until that fateful misstep happens and he’s down on the ground at the mercy of Braid. 

Then within a matter of seconds, Wing’s pushed out of Braid’s reach and he’s stunned until the dust clears. And he sees him. Drift, who so valiantly rushed in and pushed Wing out of the way just in time only for the spear to be stabbed right through his chassis. The entire time, Drift’s optics are on Wing. Despite everything he’s looking right at him, those bright blue optics on him before flickering as if his spark was failing. He gives Wing a weak smile. At that moment, Drift collapses onto the ground, motionless. 

“ **NO** !” Wing yells out. He gets back up immediately, the feeling of rage entering his EM field for the first time in decades and he loses control. His greatsword is already out, crackling with a ferocity that intimidates Braid. And within a matter of movements that Braid doesn’t even manage to foresee, he’s cut in half, the spear he used to kill Drift shattering. Wing doesn’t stop at that though. He stabs the greatsword right through Braid’s chest just like he did Drift and twists. He sheathes his sword shortly after, exhaustion threatening to overtake him. Wing gives out a final plea to Dai Atlas as he kneels on the ground. “Dai Atlas, if not for him, do it for  _ me _ .” There’s rumbling. And soon the city that was hidden underground rises, the gates opening as Dai Atlas leads a charge that sweeps through the rest of the combatants and the battle is over just in a flash. All that remains is Lockdown. Wing, despite having used so much already, stands up and looks sternly towards him, his greatsword unsheathed once again. 

There’s an aura around Wing that reeks of death and utter hatred as he stares down Lockdown and the greatsword crackles to life once again as he steps forwards is if to tell him “Fuck around and find out.” Lockdown backs away and retreats. Wing’s greatsword powers down and he sheathes it once again, approaching Drift’s lifeless frame. 

Only a couple people are surrounding Drift’s frame, Axe and Redline specifically. After all Wing knew that the rest of the Circle of Light avoided him. He was a Decepticon. There’s a slight simmering rage within him as he knows that if it were him in Drift’s place, he’d be surrounded. The sound of heavy pedesteps comes from behind. 

“This could have been prevented,” Dai Atlas says as if to comfort Wing. He places a servos on Wing’s shoulder and he immediately brushes it off, putting some space in between them. 

“If only you had listened to him! You HAD the opportunity to make sure this wouldn’t happen but because of your cowardice, he’s gone,” Wing yells. “All he wanted to do was help. He sacrificed himself to  _ save  _ me.” Dai Atlas doesn’t respond. His mouth is only drawn in a tight line as Wing glares at him. Wing stays with Drift’s body for hours, the battlefield eventually devoid of any living thing. It’s only when Redline comes out and places a servos on his shoulder in comfort does he coax Wing back inside the city. 

“We’ll do a ceremony for him,” Redline assures, trying to comfort Wing. 

“Don’t bother,” Wing replies. “No one’s going to show up anyway,” he says, optics dim as he looks out in front of him, dissociating much more than he’s ever felt. He goes back to his apartment feeling hollow. It feels so much colder and empty than before. He sits down at the edge of his berth and spends the next few hours sobbing his spark out. His grief and anger is washed over with the one revelation: “I never told him I loved him.” 

He wishes it was him. He wishes he died instead.

Wing tries to go back to his normal life. But after every attempt, it’s in vain. The mediation he participates in makes him more restless than ever, the sparring sessions with Redline fail to fill the hole in his spark and don’t feel like the same it used to be. Eventually he stops participating in any Circle of Light activity. He barely refuels, he barely goes out anymore. For the first time in his life, the city looks dull and lifeless. And he begins to feel trapped just how Drift felt when he first spent his time in New Crystal City. The greatsword in his room now lays against a wall and Wing refuses to look at it. It only serves as a reminder of his failure, of how that one mistake led to Drift’s death. His sacrifice. At this point all Wing does is sleep. He dreams of him. Desperately reaching for some semblance of Drift’s presence. After a week of relentless nightmares, Wing finally snaps out of it. 

And he leaves. 

He commandeers a ship with supplies, reluctantly taking his greatsword with him to serve as a reminder of the burden he carried and leaves New Crystal City for good. He leaves without a word. There’s no words to say goodbye to a family that ultimately  _ failed  _ him. The only thing he leaves is a note to Axe and Redline. “Don’t look for me.”

Wing first spends his time freeing the slaves and returns all of them to their homes just as promised when he first met Drift. He joins the Autobots, knowing that’s what Drift would have done and he fights for them but he’s unhappy. He doesn’t find any joy in what he does, he just knows he’s doing the right thing. Solitude becomes second nature to him. Ever since what happened his sense of community was shattered and he became known as the lone swordsman among the Autobot ranks. He rarely interacts with the others and eventually becomes an enigma that the rest of the Autobots grew to respect. They just figure he has very little to say. A mech named Hot Rod for some reason took to Wing though. Out of everyone he seemed to interact with Wing the most. He didn’t exactly understand why. But some parts of Hot Rod reminded him of Drift, so Wing didn’t exactly mind. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you smiled,” teases Hot Rod at one point. 

But Wing was lonely, terribly lonely. As much as solitude  _ was  _ second nature to him, he hated every single nanoklik of it. There was a moment when Optimus Prime had brought in a map inscribed the Matrix of Leadership. Immediately Wing recognised it to be Cyberutopia. It was only Rodimus at the time who had listened to his stories. Yet the way Wing told stories of the Knights of Cybertron, the truthfulness of said stories, but his voice was sombre and reluctant. He reveals that he used to be part of the Circle of Light and shortly after refuses to speak more on the matter unless it was for information. Every story that Rodimus asked for was quickly shut down by Wing simply falling quiet and shaking his head. It was still too painful.

The war was over. And he was left with that hollow feeling again. Cybertron was being rebuilt and the least Wing could do was help in rebuilding it. It’s almost immediate that he strips himself of the Autobot insignia and goes back to being seen as neutral. He’s not an Autobot at spark. He never was. 

Rodimus contacts him fairly early on in the rebuilding. Telling him that he’s managed to get a ship called the Lost Light and is planning an expedition, a quest for the Knights of Cybertron. 

“Come on, you’ll be my third in command,” Rodimus says. “It wouldn’t be right if you weren’t there for this quest, Wing. You gave me that inspiration after all.” 

Wing accepts. 

And eventually he tells both Ratchet and Rodimus about Drift.


End file.
